Urban foxes living in the grounds of a hospital, where there were plans to cull them, have become so bold they now climb up fire escapes onto the roofs in search of food.

This remarkable video shows a fox frolicking on the skylight of a two-storey building – ironically enough the office of Carillion, the PFI company which manages the buildings and grounds.

Workers, both for the hospital and Carillion, said the foxes are getting bolder in their interactions with humans – and that includes squeezing under a gate and fence, climbing a two-storey fire escape and searching the roof for food.

Last Friday, the Bristol Post revealed hospital bosses had instructed a pest control company to dispatch the foxes, amid growing fears there were too many and they were getting too close to the open windows of the maternity unit.

A fox on the roof of offices at Southmead Hospital

That prompted an immediate backlash against those plans for a cull, with animal-lovers calling for the foxes to be moved but not killed.

Read More

Within a couple of hours, those calls prompted the North Bristol NHS Trust to have a rethink, and bosses agreed to ‘pause’ the cull plans while it looked into the possibility of clearing out the foxes and having them moved to or by an animal rescue charity or sanctuary.

The hospital said it would be writing to staff and patients about the foxes, urging people to stop feeding them.

The fire escape the foxes climb up at Southmead Hospital

Animal-lover Louisa Smith, whose initial opposition to the cull went viral, said she had been contacted by members of staff at the hospital about foxes in another part of the hospital getting up onto the roof of Carillion’s own offices, on the other side of the hospital from the maternity unit.

Read More

“The foxes have over time worked out how to climb the steps to get up there,” she said. “They sneak under a gate to get to the steps. I have been assured the glass is of treble thickness so cannot be damaged by the foxes.

“The staff in the office love watching them and think they get up there as they can smell the take aways they eat through an air vent,” she added.

The fire escape gate the foxes squeeze under to get onto the roof

Ms Smith said she and other animal rights campaigners were planning a demonstration at the hospital to continue the pressure on the authorities at the hospital not to cull the foxes.

“We are also planning a peaceful demonstration as I have been bombarded with messages from patients, staff and local residents who are outraged, and want to make sure the foxes are not harmed in any way,” she added.

Read More

A spokeswoman for North Bristol NHS Trust confirmed on Friday no foxes have been killed yet. She said the problem had been getting worse, with one fox in particular causing concern.

“Foxes have lived peacefully on the site for a number of years,” she said.

“However, recently we have had more sightings of foxes particularly around our Maternity unit. To clarify, we contacted pest control because we are particularly concerned about one of the foxes who looks like it may be unwell. The fox has become bolder in behaviour and is being sighted more regularly in public areas.

“So far we have contacted some alternative animal welfare organisations and we are pausing all existing activity while we consider their recommendations. We have also taken advice from them on how to deter foxes in future; one of their suggestions is that people on site do not feed the foxes. We will be sending out messaging to staff, patients and the public with this advice,” she added.